In Another Life
by icarusdg
Summary: "In another life I would love you just as much." Where life ends, another begins and with it comes a whole new chance to be with the one you love. KaiShin


**Warning**: Character death, angst, violence. (Its really not as bad as that made it sound, I only do happy endings I swear!)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Shinichi, Kaito, reincarnation... I don't even have a rose so... yeah. DC/MK not mine either.

* * *

There was something ethereal about the scene; it was so beautiful and so painful and so perfect in a disastrous way.

"Do you think… in another life… we could've…"

"In another life I would love you just as much."

They didn't deserve this. If anyone in that pitiful city deserved a happy ending, it was them.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I…"

"Don't… please don't… "

Shinichi didn't know what he meant to say, so he didn't say anything. Those last moments were witnessed only by the midnight breeze and the light of a full moon. The bullet had gone straight through so the front of Kaito's suit was still mostly its pristine white, glowing in the moonlight, making the scene all the more surreal. Everything else was grey, the rooftop, the walls, the buildings around them, all of it was grey, even Kaito's top hat which had fallen somewhere toward the edge of the roof. The only colors were Kaito's glowing white suit, Shinichi's white shirt that was splattered in crimson, his black pants that looked more the color of a black hole than regular slacks, and the deep red puddle that had spread out so far around Kaito's body, reflecting the moonlight while still keeping its darkness. Shinichi was surrounded in his blood, kneeling in it beside his thief and praying it wouldn't mean what he knew it meant.

"Don't cry Shinichi. I promise… we'll… again… I love you."

"Kaito, I… don't— I can't… please Kaito."

His death shouldn't be this quiet, this empty. Yet his final moments couldn't be more beautiful; just the two of them, on a rooftop, in the moonlight. The way their whole lives had been together. This time there were no police cars, no yelling; no fans. The only sounds were Shinichi's anguished sobs and the faint rustling of KID's cape caught on the barbed wire of the fence surrounding the roof. No one would know what happened to their beloved phantom; no one but Shinichi because, he was all that was left. KID didn't finish what he started; they were supposed to end it together. Kaito looked like he was sleeping. His lips were parted, the monocle still rested over his eye but his eyes were closed. There was no life in the hand Shinichi still held in his hands. _I love you too_.

:.

Kaito had taught him everything. While Shinichi wasn't as good, it was enough to make them believe KID was still around. No one knew that he was now the fourth person to don the suit and cape. Some nights, he stood in the moonlight and laughed; Kaito would be smiling if he saw him now. It was a bittersweet laugh, forced and devoid of the joy it once held. Shinichi didn't have a real laugh or smile anymore, that died with Kaito. On those nights it surprised him only for a moment when he realized it wasn't laughter anymore that was shaking through his body. The sobs were too strong and he always fell to his knees, wishing he could give up, wishing he could die right there so he could see Kaito again. But they made a promise, a promise that as long as one of them lived they would fight to the bitter end.

Still, for a long time, only the moon was witness to the phantom thief crying until he had no more tears, laying on the roof as his body still shook with dry sobs, clinging to the suit he wore which was a painful reminder of what he lost. Sometimes Shinichi thought it still smelled like him but logic would tell him it was impossible, the suit was a new one made after his death. It was only when he had no more left, when his chest felt hollow, that the phantom would pick himself up and make his way home to where he hung up the suit for the next time he went up against them. Shinichi would make his way to an empty bed and hope sleep took him soon because he didn't want to think anymore that night.

:.

Then it really was over. Shinichi had made it all the way to the end; everyone was dead or captured and that included Gin. Gin was the last to go down and Shinichi couldn't be happier. It was an empty rooftop like before; Shinichi had followed Gin up there and fought him until each had a single bullet left. Gin's shot wasn't fatal but the force pushed him off the roof and it caused Shinichi's aim to sway from Gin's right shoulder before he could pull the trigger. Falling to his death, Shinichi smiled; as he was falling back off the edge, he saw that his shot hit Gin in the forehead. Gin was dead and he didn't mind that it meant he had taken a life. He couldn't find it in him to care that for the first time in his life he had killed someone. All Shinichi could think of was, he would see Kaito again. He spared a fleeting moment's thought for the KID persona; it was good he decided not to don the KID uniform this time, KID would stay eternal. The phantom thief may not be around anymore but, he would never die. _Just like our love Kaito. We'll meet again. I love you too._

_:.  
_

A little boy walks up to another standing alone in front of a clock tower. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kuroba Kaito." With a small cloud of smoke a red rose appears in his hand.

"…" The boy who was standing alone blushes and looks at the rose, opening his mouth to say something then closing it again when he could think of nothing.

The boy named Kaito leans forward and places the rose behind the other's ear and whispers, "I love you Shin-chan."

Faster than he can blink the smaller boy flies at Kaito, hugging him tightly, and crying into his chest. _In another life I would love you just as much._

_:.  
_

It took a while to find but Shinichi was curious and Kaito could never refuse him. The records had been lost years ago so they had to check the records for each lot rather than going to the source, but they had found it. A twelve year old Shinichi walked slowly to the tree he knew it should be under, holding tightly to Kaito's hand.

Neither boy said a word, in front of them was proof that what they had was real; proof that their love would never die. Shinichi's parents, so long ago, _in another life_, had forgone using the family burial plot and buried his body beside the grave of the one he loved. The boys kneeled before their graves, most of the inscription worn from more than a century of weather, with only a small symbol left on each. In a corner normally covered by grass and leaves, an amber jewel was set with the symbol sealed within. Both held the KID insignia, one bearing a clover in the charm and the other a spade.

They had seen the digital copies of newspaper articles from Shinichi's death and his obituary but, none of it really made it real, in part because the articles were wrong. No one mentioned his lost love, his reason for fighting; no one knew he was ever KID. All the articles noted was Shinichi's great courage and how he sacrificed himself for a greater cause. They mentioned a girl he was supposedly in love with and one article even had an exclusive with her telling how she knew he loved her and was trying to protect her, that _that_ was why he disappear so many years ago. The articles couldn't make it real because they _weren't_ real. It wasn't real until they saw their graves and recognized the insignia. He was right though, Kaito had smiled when he told him he became KID.

Aside from each other, they didn't remember anyone else; they didn't remember their parents or friends, they didn't even remember if they had siblings. It didn't matter though; Kaito remembered his time as KID when he was constantly challenged by Shinichi and then when they were fighting alongside each other. Shinichi remembered his times with Kaito when he was KID, his time as KID fighting like he promised Kaito, and when he fought as himself. Kaito remembered dying under the moonlight, wishing he could stay with Shinichi a little longer, wanting to do anything to stop the pain he saw in his detective's eyes. Shinichi remembered his own death and his first real smile since Kaito had died. Sure Shinichi could tell him what the heists were like and the things he did as KID but, he didn't remember the inspector who tried to capture him, only that he was loud. All their memories revolved around each other and KID.

The boys stayed at the cemetery until the sun began to set. It was only then that they realized the time and, being 12 years old, how much trouble they would be in if they didn't get home soon. It was a weekend so Kaito was staying with Shinichi that night, something they did every weekend and sometimes during the week when they could sneak out. Shinichi being the good kid he was, it was usually Kaito who did the sneaking out although Shinichi was very good at looking up at his parents with tears in his eyes and clinging to Kaito when he got caught. Because of that, they spent most weekends at Kaito's house where his parents gave up on trying to separate the two when Kaito was grounded.

The last time they had tried to separate them was the first and only time Shinichi snuck out of his house. They didn't live very close to each other and Shinichi couldn't take a train or bus without getting caught so he had to walk. It was raining heavily that night and Shinichi had had a dream about the night Kaito died. He needed to see him. Shinichi made it about half way before he slipped in the mud and fell into a drainage canal. Kaito woke in a panic that night, somehow knowing Shinichi was in trouble and after a very panicked argument with his parents, Kaito ran out of the house to where he knew Shinichi was. His parents drove after him with every intention of picking him up and getting after him until they saw him covered in mud and carrying Shinichi in his arms. Shinichi ended up with pneumonia and Kaito never left his side. Kaito even made him promise never to do that again.

They boys were 10 then and their parents had come to a general agreement never to separate them again.

:.

For the most part, school was like before. Shinichi was the good student, top of his class (followed by Kaito), usually hiding a mystery novel within a textbook because he was bored in class, but not disruptive. He was shy, quiet, and meek to just about all his classmates, always sticking to Kaito's side. Kaito was the polar opposite personality wise; while he got the same grades Shinichi did, he was disruptive, pulled pranks all the time, talked to everyone, always friendly and kind to others, but things were different when it came to Shinichi. When the boys first met Kaito did everything he could to convince his parents to let him go to the same school Shinichi did. After that he was known for his protectiveness of Shinichi which, if it wasn't for his otherwise friendly non aggressive personality, could have led to him being labeled as a delinquent. The two were different with friends… with each other. Around friends Shinichi found he was comfortable enough to be cocky and sarcastic even if he was still mostly shy and avoided the spotlight like the plague. Kaito on the other hand was even more hyper with friends and much more open about his relationship with Sinichi. When it was just friends Kaito was much more affectionate with Shinichi, always touching, kissing, holding the teen close, and more often than not Shinichi was sitting in his lap and wrapped safely in Kaito's arms.

There was a darker side to their relationship too though; after vividly remembering how Kaito died on that roof, Shinichi had a barely suppressed fear of being separated from Kaito. On the rare nights when he was alone Shinichi felt like his heart was breaking because a suffocating fear arose in him that maybe the current life was really a dream and Kaito was still dead; those nights he stood alone in the moonlight missing his thief. Shinichi was determined to never let anyone come between them and a real threat to Kaito equaled a very violent Shinichi to protect his love. He would not watch Kaito die again. Kaito was much the same; he never forgot how he let Shinichi behind, never missed the pain he saw in Shinichi's eyes before he climbed through his window on nights he had to sneak out to see Shinichi. More than anything he wanted to protect Shinichi and to protect the relaxed and unburdened smile he only showed when they were together. Unfortunately the new darker Kaito, being what he was, didn't back down from fights and this lead to real fights with real delinquents who only threatened Shinichi to provoke Kaito so they could hopefully walk away the strongest. Kaito always won. No one else was suicidal enough to hit on Shinichi or threaten the teen a second time. Shinichi was his and he would not leave him behind again.

Their friends were ok with all this. They didn't become friends with the pair blindly; they were well aware of the relationship before hand and well aware of Kaito's reputation. It was an odd group of friends Shinichi and Kaito had gathered. Some were athletes, others nerds, some were outcasts and some were popular. All of them were true and only then knew the real Shinichi aside from Kaito. Shinichi was part of the soccer team so all their friends joined Kaito on the stands, aside from one other boy who was also on the team, every game to cheer on their friends. During lunch at school they had their lunch on the roof (one more reason to be friends with an expert thief even if they didn't all know it) and enjoyed letting go of the masks they wore in front of the rest of the school. They laughed about the current rumors going around school about the quasi delinquent and his cute little uke (something Shinichi was often teased about), some saying Kaito was jealous and that's why he got into so many fights, others saying Shinichi was a tease because he loved watching Kaito kick ass. Even more embarrassing for Shinichi was the ongoing debate on if it was twincest and how far the "twins" had gone which amused the hell out of Kaito when they heard it at school. Their friends began starting each day by reporting the currently held beliefs and the percentages for each side. It seemed most people thought Shinichi was the "younger twin" and thus his supposed shyness and submissiveness to his "older twin." Only one friend apologized when she told Shinichi there was no way anyone would believe he was seme at which Shinichi glared pitifully and turned to Kaito, burying his face in Kaito's shoulder. Kaito would have said something about it but he heard Shinichi's mumbled "it's better being uke anyways" and laughed instead.

While the two were closer to no one more than each other, their friends were more like family than their parents. The friends were the only ones who watched Shinichi jump into the foray when a gang decided it'd be better to jump him as a group instead of the more honorable one on one. Several of their friends had jumped in (the ones who could fight) but Shinichi had stayed back knowing Kaito wouldn't want him to risk being hurt. It was only when Kaito was fighting two guys and a third came at him from behind with a knife that Shinichi picked up a pipe one of the other guys had dropped and attacked the third guy with a ferocity no one had thought possible. Everything had stopped for a moment, everyone too shocked as Shinichi beat the guy with the pipe, surely breaking bones until Kaito jumped back into motion, knocked down the two he was fighting and pulling Shinichi into his arms dropping the pipe in the process. The gang decided it was time to retreat to take in the new information and dragged their injured away with them. Everything was quiet after that, the only sound was Shinichi's sobs while Kaito held him close, trying to calm the violent shutters that threatened to break Shinichi apart. Their friends never moved, neither to run away nor move closer. They understood Kaito was the only one Shinichi needed or wanted at the moment. After what felt like eternity, two had walked off to borrow a car so they could drive the pair to Shinichi's house. When they returned Kaito was sitting on the ground slowly rocking a sleeping Shinichi who still seemed to be crying. All of them helped Kaito get in the back seat with Shinichi on his lap, never speaking a word as the car drove off with only the two that had retrieved it and the two lovers in the backseat. No one spoke about the incident again.

In love and life they were all there for each other. When one friend had lost a beloved grandparent all of them went to the funeral (all of them also knew said grandparent). When the time for entrance exams came around for university, they worked hard together to help each other achieve their goals. Their friendship wasn't only about the serious moments though. During their summers in high school they would spend most nights at the beach when they were all free. They built a fire, played music, teased Shinichi about getting molested by Kaito so much, and they let go of everything else. Those were the times when the group marveled at Shinichi and Kaito. The pair were old souls, soul mates. When Kaito walked a little ways off with Shinichi in his arms to dance alone, the group always watched them out of the corner of their eyes; at times like this they found inside them was a belief in the concept of soul mates. Shinichi and Kaito were always meant to be, life got in the way of that sometimes but fate would always bring them back together. Alongside that belief they also found they would do anything for their friends, to protect their love that was so pure, so powerful.

Unlike the friends they cherished, Shinichi and Kaito's parents were something else altogether. In some ways they were faceless beings, family only in name but nothing else. It wasn't that their parents neglected them or were distant but more that Shinichi and Kaito didn't know how to let them close. From the time they first met in front of the clock tower, Shinichi and Kaito only confided in each other for everything. Shinichi fell and scrapped his knee; he cried to Kaito and not his mother. Kaito got a higher test score than Shinichi (by one point) for the first (and last) time; their parents only found out when their teacher notified them. Even when the whole school knew that Shinichi and Kaito were more than friends (thought still considered twins by the majority), their parents didn't see it till they were around seventeen. In Kaito's opinion, it was probably more denial than anything. Shinichi felt it might have been their own fault for never letting their parents in on their secrets.

The day their parents finally got the idea that something might be up, Shinichi's mother had walked into the room intending to wake the boys for breakfast on a Sunday morning. She had stopped inside the room, about a foot from the door when she realized Shinichi was sleeping rather close to Kaito and Kaito had his arms around Shinichi's waist keeping him that way. While they did have pajama pants on, shirts were absent and Shinichi had a mark on his left shoulder which looked suspiciously like a hicky. She walked back out of the room silently to think over the situation a bit. Unnoticed by her, Kaito was awake and opened his eyes after she closed the door behind her. He spent the rest of the day keeping Shinichi even closer than usual, only admitting what happened when Shinichi questioned him. By the evening, they weren't too surprised when they walked down for dinner only to find all their parents gathered. The real surprise was when Shinichi's mother walked up to Kaito and gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead before telling him they understand.

Things got awkward sometimes but their parents tried their best and Shinichi and Kaito agreed they needed to do better at talking to them.

:.

To anyone else that day may have not been one to celebrate but for them, it symbolized the day when they got a second chance. Today was the anniversary of the day Shinichi died. Not just the anniversary but Shinichi was even the same age as he was that time and they celebrated it on the same roof.

"This is all new after today Shinichi."

"This was new the day you gave me the rose in front of the clock tower Kaito."

To celebrate, Kaito had done a whole lot of research on the geographic history of the area to figure out if maybe a building still stood in the same location. It was quite a surprise to find the building was now a historical one (even more of a surprise to find it was at one point a museum dedicated to the day the world changed due to actions of Kudo Shinichi) and had been taken good care of despite changing ownership so many times over the years. Kaito had then begun setting up so he could bring Shinichi up there for a moonlit dinner. He prepared an elaborate dinner to be served on fine china set on a pure white tablecloth while a few hidden speakers emitted soft music in the background.

"If you go with that logic nothing was ever old or repeated despite the nature of reincarnation."

"Maybe you should just call it… another life. Not a second chance or reincarnation but a different life that comes after death."

After dinner Kaito rose to his feet and walked over to Shinichi's side of the table where he reached out for his love's hand in a silent request for a dance. The two danced in the moonlight, forgetting the rest of the world around and only seeing the person before them. It felt so natural to be dancing on rooftops, Shinichi following Kaito's lead, Kaito taking pleasure in the soft gasp Shinichi released when he swung him into a dip before pulling him up against his chest again.

"Then, to another beginning of another life, may we have many more for eternity."

"An eternity with you sounds like a nice way to live."

Once Kaito noticed the way Shinichi was leaning on him a little more, following his movements a little slower, he decided it was time to end the dancing and do something he wanted to do since that first life. Kaito had only remembered it a few days before and only managed to retrieve the item that morning. His hiding place was a little too good and, after so much time, a little too hidden. Still, the item was in perfect condition, sealed air tight all those years.

"I love you Shinichi, for eternity."

Kneeling before Shinichi, Kaito produced a small ring in the palm of his hand; a promise, a proposal, a symbol for all the things Shinichi meant to him. He didn't really have to ask, the look in his eyes said everything so Shinichi reached out to let Kaito place the ring on Shinichi's finger before dropping to his knees as well so he could kiss Kaito. Shinichi didn't really need to say anything either, his answer couldn't be clearer.

"I love you too Kaito." _For eternity_.

* * *

I hope everyone loves this, I was trying to write my next chapter for my other fic but this kind of hit me and I couldn't stop till I finished.

I would love to know what people thing of it so reviews are welcomed (pretty please?) and I hope to get other stuff written soon.


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